Transmission line route options chosen

Route options through Wauwatosa have been chosen for a proposed 138,000-volt power transmission line that would help provide electricity to the western portion of Milwaukee County.

American Transmission Co. will hold a public meeting from 4 to 7 p.m. March 10 at the Civic Center on the first floor of City Hall, 7725 W. North Ave., to discuss the preliminary plans. The company plans to build a new We Energies substation adjacent to the county substation and two transmission line connections.

Studies indicate that electric demand in the Highway 45 corridor is expected to double by 2016, and existing distribution substations and feeders that serve the area will not be adequate to meet future electric demand, according to a news release about the project.

Andrew Gumm, We Energies manager of project siting, said the life-saving work of the trauma centers at the Milwaukee Regional Medical Complex call for a reserve source of electricity in the form of a second transmission line.

Representatives from American Transmission Co. and We Energies will answer questions and show preliminary route options. They used information gathered at an initial open house in October to come up with route choices.

Route options will be narrowed to two before an application to build the lines is filed with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin in early 2012. If approved by the PSC, construction of the new lines would begin in 2014 to meet an in-service date of 2015.